Every year there is a handful of hotel openings that I keep coming back to, the ones I save, screenshot and quietly start planning around. This year’s crop of new luxury hotels 2026 is especially strong, and what I love is how many of them are not new buildings at all. They are palazzos, Belle Époque villas, an old department store and even a private island, brought back to life with real care.

These are the new luxury hotels 2026 has opened that I want to visit next, and why each one made my list. If you want to see how my existing favorites stack up against this year’s awards, I covered that in my picks vs. the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards.

1. Corinthia Rome

Corinthia’s first hotel in Italy opened in March on Piazza del Parlamento, a short walk from the Pantheon. It is set in a neoclassical palazzo built between 1913 and 1921 that was once associated with the Bank of Italy, and the restoration kept the original frescoes, mosaics and marble. The spa sits in the former vault, which is exactly the kind of detail that makes me want to book.

There are only 60 rooms, and Carlo Cracco is behind the restaurants, his first in Rome. I love the intimate side of Rome (my story on Casa Monti is a good example), and this feels like the grand version of that same idea.

2. Orient Express Venezia

This is the one I have been most curious about. Orient Express opened its Venice hotel in April inside Palazzo Donà Giovannelli, a 15th-century palace in the quieter Cannaregio district that has never been a hotel before. Aline Asmar d’Amman designed its 47 rooms, suites and residences. You can arrive by boat through a Gothic water gate.

Heinz Beck oversees the fine dining. For me, Cannaregio is the right choice. It is where Venice still feels like a neighborhood.

3. Airelles Palladio Venezia

Venice got two big openings in one spring. Airelles, the French group behind Les Airelles in Courchevel and Le Grand Contrôle at Versailles, opened its first hotel outside France in April on Giudecca. It spans three 16th-century buildings with almost a hectare of gardens, 45 keys and what the group calls the largest spa in Venice.

Giudecca gives you the view back across to St. Mark’s without the crowds, and a garden in Venice is about as rare a luxury as it gets.

4. COMO Le Beauvallon, Gulf of Saint-Tropez

Le Beauvallon first opened in 1914, closed in 2008 and reopened this April under COMO with 42 rooms on a private estate above the gulf near Grimaud. Yannick Alléno runs the food, including his first beach-club restaurant, and there is a private jetty with a boat to Saint-Tropez and Pampelonne.

I love the Riviera most outside peak summer (I wrote about why in the shoulder-season Riviera), and a quieter base across the water from Saint-Tropez is exactly how I would want to do it.

5. Zannier Île de Bendor

This might be the most romantic opening of the year. Île de Bendor is a small private island off Bandol, a seven-minute boat ride from the port, that pastis creator Paul Ricard bought in 1950. Zannier reopened it on May 1 with 93 rooms, eight dining concepts by chef Lionel Levy and a large wellness center.

What draws me in is that the restoration actually removed concrete and planted trees.

6. Four Seasons Hotel Mykonos

Four Seasons opened on Kalo Livadi Bay in late June with 94 rooms, suites and villas, many with private plunge pools, plus a private beach and a jetty for yacht days. Mykonos can be a lot in August, so my plan would be to go in early June or September, when the water is still warm and the island is calmer.

7. Six Senses London

Six Senses’ first UK hotel opened in March inside The Whiteley in Bayswater, the former Whiteleys department store. There are 109 rooms and suites, and the spa is the draw for me, with a 20-meter pool and what the brand calls London’s first hotel magnesium pool.

London keeps surprising me with its new hotels. My story on The Broadwick Soho covered the city’s design-led side; Six Senses is the wellness side.

8. Capella Kyoto

Capella opened in Kyoto in March in Miyagawa-cho, one of the city’s historic geiko districts, near Kenninji temple. Kengo Kuma and Associates designed it with Brewin Design Office, and there are 89 rooms, six of them suites with private onsen.

Kyoto is high on my list. A hotel that puts you inside a real neighborhood, with a moss garden and an onsen spa, is the one I would plan the trip around.

9. White Elephant Aspen

For my fellow New Englanders, this one feels a little like home. The Nantucket brand opened its first mountain hotel in June at Main and Garmisch Streets in Aspen, with 54 rooms and suites and LoLa 41 for sushi and seafood.

I would save this for ski season. White Elephant service at altitude sounds like a very good idea.

How I Would Plan Around New Luxury Hotels 2026

The new luxury hotels 2026 has delivered are exciting, but they are also still finding their rhythm. My rule is to wait until a property has been open a few months unless there is a specific opening offer I want. By fall, most of the spring openings on this list have settled in, which makes late 2026 and early 2027 a lovely time to try them.

• Pair a new hotel with a trusted one. Spend two nights somewhere new and the rest somewhere you already know you love.
• Ask about room categories. In historic buildings, rooms vary a lot. A good advisor or the reservations team can tell you which ones have the views.
• Book shoulder season. Saint-Tropez, Mykonos and Venice are all at their best in May, June and September.

If you are thinking about where to go next year more broadly, my list of iconic places to visit in 2026 is a good companion to this one. And for a Paris stay that already feels like a classic, read my Travel Talks on Hôtel Pilgrim.